24v Battery Maintainer ?

luvrbus · July 29, 2016, 07:35:52 PM

Will a 4 amp 3 stage maintainer keep 2-8D batteries charged I have a DDEC so there is always a little draw down on the batteries

Dave5Cs · July 29, 2016, 09:36:15 PM

Clifford don't think that will do it. I have a Marine Pro sport 3 way smart charger 12 Amp and it was said to be minimal for two Group 31's. Work good though.

https://www.amazon.com/ProMariner-43012-ProSport-Generation-Battery/dp/B00F5EBR1C

chessie4905 · July 30, 2016, 02:09:36 AM

I use a single version of this with a quad link to maintain 4 batteries.

http://www.pulsetech.net/XCPARALLEL-Xtreme-Charge-Parallel-Multi-12V-Battery-Charger-7276.aspx

bevans6 · July 30, 2016, 04:52:52 AM

If the batteries are well charged to start with it should work fine. I used a 5 amp 24 volt smart charger for years on my house bank and the start batteries, which were 8D's. It took a really long time to actually charge the batteries, like a week or more, but it maintained them just fine.

Dave5Cs · July 30, 2016, 05:54:02 AM

But he also has a draw off it so if it sits for any length of time you will be having to fully charge it to be able for it to maintain them. Depends on how many amps are being used for the per-acidic loads.
Dave

luvrbus · July 30, 2016, 06:20:59 AM

This is what I will be using the Pulse/Tech DCS-24 military issue maintainer I came across a box (8 new) from a government auction at a bargain. FWIW Pulse/Tech will not give out any information on these because it's government specs that kinda sucks it's not a secret weapon

it's a friggn charger

gumpy · July 30, 2016, 06:36:29 AM

Put an amp meter on your battery and see what the draw is when everything is "off". That should tell you if the 4 amp charger is sufficient. Most cheap meters are capable of 10 amp reading.

luvrbus · July 30, 2016, 06:49:42 AM

They are made I believe to work on the std military 6TL battery which is a 8-D in half for the price of a full 8D

,I will keep you guys posted on the outcome tied to 2-8Ds

Oonrahnjay · July 30, 2016, 07:55:15 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on July 30, 2016, 06:49:42 AMThey are made I believe to work on the std military 6TL battery which is a 8-D in half for the price of a full 8D ,I will keep you guys posted on the outcome tied to 2-8Ds

I hope it works for you, Clifford. I've run across situations where an electronically-controlled "smart" charger seems to get derailed by extra loads. If you put them on a battery that's on its own, they seem to see what the battery needs and do a good job with that. But if you ask them to supply loads in addition to keeping the battery maintained, they seem to get "confused" about what's needed. Sometime, they seem to put out too much amperage and other times not enough and your battery runs down. But a "dumb charger" has its risks, too. I dunno ...

thomasinnv · July 30, 2016, 08:07:02 AM

This winter i am going to change the house system over to 24v. (Actually just the inverter and solar system, i will use a vanner to supply the 12v for the lights, water pump, etc) and I plan on installing something like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252449159828

It will automatically connect the house and chassis banks together any time either one of them is being charged ie. Plugged into shore power or running down the road, and it has built in option for emergency starting capability.

TomC · July 31, 2016, 07:49:12 AM

What about using two solar panel chargers? (one on each battery since you're wired to 24v). I have a solar panel charger that is about 18" square that keeps my 4-31's up to charge on my truck

pvcces · August 01, 2016, 12:34:58 AM

Hi, Cliff.

In my experience, batteries the size we use in these buses have less than 1 amp self discharge, so I would expect the charger you have to do the job. Also,we had good results using a Pulse-Tech.

Good luck on your project.

Tom Caffrey

Lin · August 01, 2016, 08:47:57 AM

We currently have two telecom batteries for the house. They weigh 100+ pounds each, so I would say they are equivalent to 4d's. They are on a float charge with the inverter now and are drawing .6 amps together.

luvrbus · August 01, 2016, 08:52:19 AM

With the electronics on mine it draws over a amp.I don't want to disconnect the batteries it causes you problems when the backup battery for the clock goes south in a DDEC

thomasinnv · August 01, 2016, 09:07:13 AM

Hey cliff are you saying you are still drawing over an amp with the main disconnect off in the battery compartment? Or is that with it on? According to da book the ddec still has power with the disconnect off.